This invention relates to a lawn mower that differs from conventional lawn mowers in that it is free from any significant hazard to the operator.
In general, there are two types of lawn mowers, the reel-type and the rotary-type. The reel-type mower has a transverse cutting bar at an adjusted cutting height and has a cutter assembly in the form of a reel with peripheral blade elements that cooperate with the transverse cutting bar in a scissor-like cutting operation. Since the cutting reel is power actuated, inadvertent intrusion into the cutting zone of any part of the operator's body can and often does result in serious physical injury. Moreover, if the lawn mower encounters a piece of wire, it can pull on the wire and seemingly aggressively attack the operator. Knee cap injuries occur in this manner. Hundreds of injuries are reported each year, and only a fraction of such injuries are officially recorded.
The so-called rotary-type mower employs a cutting blade that rotates at high speed in a horizontal plane at a selected mowing height. The rotating blade is covered on all sides by a protective shroud, but here again power actuation creates serious risks. If the rotary blade encounters an obstacle, the reaction can cause the mower to jump or to tilt to an angle that exposes the cutting blade to some part of the operator's body.